Here are resources I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in getting up to speed and understanding employee engagement as well as staying plugged-in to the emerging employee engagement marketplace of ideas. I will continue to add to this post as I consider new resources and I encourage you to add resources you highly recommend to the comments section below.
Overview of Employee Engagement
To begin, download this FREE digital copy of Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity. It describes the elements of a culture that motivates people to give their best efforts and align their behavior with organizational goals. The book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishers in 2007 and has been widely endorsed including by bestselling author Marshall Goldsmith, Leader to Leader founder Frances Hesselbien, and the global executive search firm founder Russell Reynolds, Jr., to name a few. Full disclosure: I wrote this book after years of research and I believe in its contents. The book includes 20 case studies of leaders throughout history from business, government, the social sector and sports who created cultures that engaged the people. It also contains best practices and group study questions. If you prefer a copy of the book over the download, you can purchase it through booksellers including Amazon.com or 800-CEO-READ. If you prefer to read a brief overview of the ideas from the book, here is a free download of the manifesto I wrote for changethis.com entitled The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage.
Other books I’ve read and highly recommend as overviews of employee engagement are The Enthusiastic Employee, First Break All the Rules and Happy Hour is 9-to-5.
Books on Organizations That Engage Employees
It’s Not About the Coffee by Howard Behar
Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz
Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack and Bo Burlingham
Why Is Everyone Smiling? by Paul Spiegelman
[more to come]
Articles/Case Studies
Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway
Chicago Bulls Basketball Dynasty
Frances Hesselbein of the Girl Scouts of the USA
Dr. Herbert Pardes of New York-Preybyterian Hospital
Howell Raines of The New York Times (Note: Shows How Not to Engage Employees)
Anita Roddick of The Body Shop
World War II Generals Bradley, Marshall and Eisenhower
Employee Engagement Communities and Marketplace of Ideas
There are several organizations doing outstanding work on employee engagement that I have faith in based on my personal interactions with individuals in them.
The Employee Engagement Network, founded and maintained by David Zinger, is the best place to connect online with individuals who are interested in the field. It is an absolute must for anyone committed to advancing the field.
Other organizations I know and respect that are involved in employee engagement include:
American Society for Training and Development
American Management Association
Athenaonline.com (and its parent, the Institute for Management Studies)
Corporate Executive Board’s Corporate Leadership Council
Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
Society for Human Resource Management
